New Account from a Revolutionary Guard Commander on Missile Attack Against Israel

The commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in a television interview, provided details about the military tensions between the Islamic Republic and Israel in recent months, which were both contradictory and pointed to some of the challenges and shortcomings in the military and economic sectors of the Islamic Republic. According to state media, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC's Aerospace Force, discussed the details of the IRGC's missile attacks on Israel, stating, 'We expected these encounters to be ping-pong-like and reciprocal.' He added, 'We had not prepared ourselves for a conflict, but it was natural that if the enemy took action, we would also respond.' Hajizadeh is one of the IRGC commanders who had direct responsibility for the operation that led to the downing of a Ukrainian airplane, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Iranians. The families of the victims, including Ali Khamenei and senior officials of the Islamic Republic, considered Hajizadeh responsible for this crime. Flight PS752 of Ukraine International Airlines was targeted by two missiles from the IRGC less than three minutes after taking off from Tehran International Airport on January 8, 2020, killing all 176 passengers on board. After three days of denial, Islamic Republic officials finally admitted to shooting down the airplane but attributed it to 'human error.' During that incident, Hajizadeh was not held accountable, and years later, Ali Khamenei awarded him the 'Victory Medal,' a military honor in the Islamic Republic. In another contradictory statement, Hajizadeh said, 'In the first phase, we had to use older missiles due to breaching the enemy's defense shield,' but he attributed the main reason to clearing out the stockpile of missiles from twenty to thirty years ago. He claimed, 'We have a diverse basket of products, some of which are from 25 to 30 years ago, and we cannot keep them, so we used them in this operation.' Hajizadeh reiterated that 'in the first phase, a higher percentage of the missiles were old, but in the second phase, this ratio decreased.' It is worth noting that one serious point raised by military experts regarding the military capability of the Islamic Republic is the use of outdated ballistic missiles in the attack on October 1, 2024, against Israeli positions. This IRGC commander further stated, 'We must be prepared for war so that war does not happen,' adding, 'Concerns about war are unnecessary, and the main problems of the country are in the economic sector, which need special attention.' Hajizadeh also admitted that 'we did not have enough experience in a war in this area,' claiming that 'during this time, we completely transformed ourselves.' This military official of the Islamic Republic once again promised that 'Promise of Truth 3 will soon be realized.' He also added, 'We used the experiences of past operations and made technical and tactical changes. For example, in the Promise of Truth, the gap between the first and last missile was large, giving the enemy a chance to defend. We reduced this gap and were able to launch missiles simultaneously from different regions of the country.' In recent years, the Islamic Republic of Iran has introduced multiple missiles as 'precision-guided' or missiles with a range of over two thousand kilometers. Many of the Islamic Republic's claims about its missile capabilities have been questioned by military analysts, especially regarding the accuracy of these missiles. In recent years, the dimensions of Iran's missile program have faced multiple reactions from the international community. Western countries and Iran's neighbors consider this program a threat to regional stability, while Iran describes it as defensive. The Islamic Republic directly attacked Israel at midnight on April 14, using at least 320 projectiles, including suicide drones and cruise and ballistic missiles, and on October 1, with at least 180 ballistic missiles. Israel, on November 5, conducted a 'precise and targeted' operation involving at least 100 warplanes, targeting over 20 military positions mainly related to the air defense of the Islamic Republic in four provinces: Tehran, Semnan, Ilam, and Khuzestan. These retaliatory attacks by Israel followed the missile attack on October 1 by the Islamic Republic, during which over 180 ballistic missiles were fired at Israel. Israel chose to attack the military positions of the Islamic Republic while there was much speculation about the possibility of attacking nuclear facilities, energy infrastructure, and even political and military figures, including Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, in the news media.